ARTS NOTES

Friday, Oct. 6, 2006 | 7:43 a.m.

The biggest problem with Chris Bauder's sculptures is having to obey the "do not touch" signs nearby.

Made from latex house paint, the soft, floppy and deflated-looking pieces beg to be poked, fondled, squeezed and prodded. But alas, his work is not interactive, and knowing that viewers fight the desire to touch his work is what the artist enjoys.

"You just want to grab. I want that feeling," says Bauder, who is working on his master's of fine arts at UNLV.

His soft sculptures are part of the "Clark County 3-D Invitational" at the Clark County Government Center's rotunda. The group show includes the giant high-density foam works by Daisey Contin and the fun house-inspired ceramics by Richard Hesketh.

The show was curated by Yvonne Lung, who looks for fresh art and nontraditional mediums for the rotunda gallery. Bauder's otherworldly works were a perfect fit.

Though the works reference domesticity, Bauder says, they aren't representational. However, they could make anyone think that they just sat down for a bizarre dinner on another planet.

Any meaning, he says, is inconclusive and the response he anticipates is fully physical. "I like that it starts a dialogue," he says.

The highly detailed, cushioned forms in pale colors resemble objects or familiar body parts and will reappear in his work, he says. That includes his Midway show in UNLV's Grant Hall Gallery in December. For now, he's just having fun with the material, a process he began five months ago when paint dripped on some of his sculptures.

Details: Reception from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. today; "Clark County 3-D Invitational" exhibit through Nov. 10, Clark County Government Center rotunda, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway.

Good timing for exhibit

It's fitting, but coincidental, that the Ed Ruscha exhibit opening tonight at G-C Arts gallery overlaps the upcoming Vegas Valley Book Festival.

The exhibit features select "word" works by the West Coast pop and conceptual artist - a nice tie-in with the book fest's emphasis on literature in its spoken and illustrated forms.

Among the prints are the dizzying "Metro, Petro, Neuro, Psycho" and "Roughly 92% Angel, But About 8% Devil," both from 1982.

Exhibit: Reception from 6 to 8 tonight; exhibit on display through Dec. 31; G-C Arts, 1217 S. Main St.; www.gcarts-lv.com

Book fest: Nov. 3 and 4; Arts District; www.vegasvalleybookfest.org

First Friday celebrates

First Friday celebrates its fourth anniversary tonight. More than 12 streets will be closed for the event. Some of the highlights:

Details: Most First Friday events run from 6 to 10 p.m. For more information, go to www.firstfriday-lasvegas.org.